FoodTrack™ is a comprehensive food and nutrient database developed through a collaboration between CSIRO and the Heart Foundation. It supports the collection and monitoring of nutrition and product data for foods and beverages in Australian supermarkets.

The database contains highly accurate product data from fresh and packaged foods in major Australian supermarkets such as product descriptors (category, manufacturer, pack size), nutrition panel (NIP) information, ingredient lists, front-of-pack labels, images of the product and other relevant information, including multipacks and products with multiple NIPs.

FoodTrackTM has collected data since 2014, and it is updated on an annual basis, including new products and product formulations.

Key components

The FoodTrackTM platform comprises three key components:

an intelligent smartphone application (app) to collect data

a cloud-based database

a web-portal to access and audit the data collected.

Features and benefits

details of 13,000+ products collected annually on a rolling basis with new products captured and existing products updated

covers 80+ food and beverage categories in major Australian supermarkets

a nationally representative sample of greater than 90 per cent of market within each category based on collection in major metropolitan Victorian supermarkets.

accuracy: category error rates are less than one per cent.

Achievements

Since its launch in 2014, the importance and relevance of FoodTrackTM has been immediate with the Heart Foundation, together with CSIRO, being engaged by the Federal Government to independently monitor the implementation of the voluntary front-of-pack labelling system – the Health Star Rating system, using the FoodTrackTM database.

The Health Star Rating System rates the overall nutritional profile of a food, from half a star to five stars. It gives you a simple way to compare similar packaged foods and make an informed choice.

The Health Star Rating System is a voluntary self-regulated front-of-pack labelling scheme developed by the Australian, state and territory governments, working with industry, public health and consumer groups.

In 2015, FoodTrackTM received the INFOODS Success Stories Award for significant food composition achievements by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.